A president deep in drink throughout hazard?

Kang Ju-an
 
The writer is an editorial author on the JoongAng Ilbo. 
 
 
 
As the primary anniversary of the Dec. 3 martial legislation disaster approaches, a collection of revelations has emerged. Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who had refused to adjust to the particular counsel’s summons or seem in courtroom after being detained for the second time in July, has begun talking from his solitary cell on the Seoul Detention Middle. He appeared earlier than the particular counsel investigating revolt on Oct. 15 and once more at his trial on the Seoul Central District Court docket on Oct. 31.
 

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol seems on the Seoul Central District Court docket in Seocho District, Seoul, on Sept. 26 for the primary listening to on prices together with obstruction of official duties and abuse of energy. [Joint Press Corps]

 
His sudden change in conduct has prompted a number of interpretations. His aides claimed he complied to ease the burden on jail officers. Critics argue that is unconvincing, noting that Yoon resisted earlier arrest makes an attempt at his Hannam-dong residence and even blocked investigators from executing a court-approved warrant.
 
Some consider that after months in solitary confinement, Yoon might have merely needed non permanent aid from being trapped inside his jail partitions. However many analysts say this shift was triggered by a calculated transfer from the particular counsel group led by Cho Eun-seok. They obtained an arrest warrant however saved it confidential, studying from previous failed makes an attempt the place advance discover allowed resistance. Confronted with the potential for being dragged out early within the morning in a jail uniform, Yoon might have chosen to stroll into courtroom on his personal phrases.
 
What adopted shocked the general public. On Nov. 3, former Particular Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun testified that Yoon informed him, “Convey me Han Dong-hoon. I’ll shoot him if I’ve to.” When prosecutors referred to “Kim Keon Hee on the time,” Yoon objected, saying, “It’s best to handle her as Madam Kim Keon Hee.” Days later, Kim Keon Hee admitted by way of her lawyer that she accepted two Chanel baggage. Whether or not Yoon was conscious stays unclear.
 
 
Extra placing was Yoon’s personal admission of heavy ingesting. In courtroom, questioning Kwak, he stated, “You already know we drank a number of instances. I normally made the primary bomb shot, and we took turns.” Recalling drinks on the protection minister’s residence, he added, “It was greater than twice. We drank lots, proper?” Kwak replied they usually consumed 10 to twenty glasses.
 
Yoon appeared to emphasize extreme ingesting to refute claims that discussions about emergency powers had been made throughout these gatherings. But the concept the commander in chief, protection minister and elite army leaders frequently drank to extra — confirmed by Yoon himself — raises a deeper query: who was safeguarding the nation throughout these hours?
 
This was not the primary allegation of such conduct. In Might, former Capital Protection Commander Lee Jin-woo testified earlier than the Constitutional Court docket that Yoon “drank rapidly, grew to become intoxicated and was helped out by former Minister Kim Yong-hyun.” Yoon additionally informed Kwak in courtroom that at a dinner marking Armed Forces Day, “I arrived after 8 p.m., and as quickly as I sat down, we began passing round soju and beer bombs. Quite a lot of glasses went round.”
 

Former Military Particular Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun seems as a witness at former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s revolt trial on the Seoul Central District Court docket in Seocho District, Seoul, on Nov. 3. Kwak testified that in October final 12 months, Yoon pointed to former Individuals Energy Occasion chief Han Dong-hoon and others and stated, “Convey him in. I’ll shoot him if I’ve to,” a declare Yoon’s authorized group instantly denied. [Seoul Central District Court]

 
The sinking of the Cheonan naval vessel by a North Korean torpedo occurred at 9:22 p.m. on March 26, 2010. Critics now ask: if an analogous assault had occurred on an evening when the president “began ingesting at 8 p.m.” and “many glasses had been handed round,” what may need occurred? The truth that such a situation was recommended not by political opponents however by a former president himself has amplified public unease.
 
The author argues that in a rustic the place legal guidelines are sometimes revised for much lesser issues, maybe the Nationwide Meeting ought to think about a presidential prohibition legislation to make sure nationwide safety. With out such measures, the writer claims, it could be inconceivable for residents to sleep in peace.